Monday, April 26, 2010

Weekend News

Let me just get something off my chest. There are strangers on my roof, dropping shingles on my poor little plants, and I feel very uncomfortable. I really don't mind the noise at all. I mind the vulnerable feeling of paying a lot of money for something that may end up hurting more than what I had before. Like confronting an annoying person in your life, or going to the dentist for a little pain and leaving with a big one. But I'm trusting that it will all work out for the best, so let's talk about something pleasant and just pretend my house and yard look like this.

The boys went to Nana and Grandpa's house for the weekend, so BFJ and I went out and did things we don't get to do often: going to the movies and changing our minds at the last minute about which one to see, and not calling anyone to tell them about the time change. Going out to dinner somewhere we'd never been, and not caring whether there's a kids' menu. And ordering stuff we've never eaten. And walking in the rain. Falling asleep on the couch (I love my couch) and not remembering to set an alarm. And driving around town and just stopping somewhere because. Because we've always wondered, what's over there? And things like that. This free and unplanned weekend was an early birthday gift to my husband. I did state one rule for the weekend: we could eat at home, or we could dine out, but if we went out for a meal it had to be somewhere we'd never been. All fast food was out, including places like Applebee's and IHOP, as well as our local pizzeria.

Friday night was rainy; we ended up driving through a spooky neighborhood, and saw lots of buildings we've never noticed before, then on to one of my favorite little neighborhoods in Denver. We had dinner at The Hornet; I drive by it frequently and wonder how it is. It was packed! but we didn't have to wait long for a table. We ordered the Sweet Potato Fries, which were so awesome I would go back just for them. The rest of the dinner was good but the fries were the highlight. From there, we went next door to The Mayan where we were planning to watch The Runaways but instead got tickets for The Joneses. I love going to a movie I know very little about - having no expectation, having no idea what's going to happen. We both enjoyed The Joneses, especially David Duchovny, but there were definitely some scenes that were painful to watch.

Saturday morning was drizzly; we started out aimlessly but then were driving through this cute little neighborhood we never have time to stop in. This day, though, we had time to stop. We parked on a side street and walked through the neighborhood admiring all the cute little houses. (Sorry about the formatting, sometimes I don't know what I'm doing.)

Chartruese; hmm. Our favorite was the yellow and purple house at the top of this post. It was freshly painted and the owners were obviously in the midst of some landscaping projects but it was so fresh and happy looking. Here's a detail photo (click to see it closer):

During our walk around this neighborhood, we visited a cheese shop where we purchased some sausage and baguette for an impromptu breakfast.

I was on the prowl for some delicious chocolate so we stopped into a shop that said Desserts on the side. Desserts were not yet prepared, but BFJ ordered a Vietnamese Coffee which he'd heard Anthony Bourdain talk about. He said it really was the bomb but I wouldn't know; I am not a coffee drinker. Eventually we arrived back at our car and headed to LoDo. We did some window shopping and had lunch at a crepes place in Writers Square. Last time we were downtown we tried to pursuade the boys to try crepes but they all declined; this time we didn't have to take a vote. I can't remember exactly what mine was but it had chicken and mushrooms. The pesto was fantastic. Perhaps this summer I will try making some.

Savory crepe:

Sweet crepe:

BFJ bought me a cute little hat. I am undecided about whether I like the picture I have of it so will have to post one later. We went looking for some wicked boots; we did not find any but instead browsed through a vintage shop and a few other shops. We parked near a church which he said was Scottish and I said was not so we explored it a bit on our way back to the car. I liked this little patch of clover growing under the doorway.

In the afternoon, we went back to The Mayan to see The Runaways. It was a good movie as far as acting and directing, but I didn't enjoy it. I'm married to a musician, if you didn't know, and have seen a little exploitation of talent, but this movie was difficult to watch. It was especially hard, having seen Dakota Fanning in movies as a child, to watch her getting involved in drugs and more. BFJ did enjoy it, and he was the one that wanted to see it, so that worked out alright. After the movie, we went to a new restaurant in our neck of the woods where we ordered more sweet potato fries. They weren't quite as fantastic as the ones the night before, but my salad and pork chops were delicious.

Yesterday, we met up with our boys and went immediately to a jungle-themed birthday party, and then a swimming birthday party! They were out with the lights at bedtime.

I think the highlight of the weekend for me was walking around the neighborhood with the cute houses. It might sound like the weekend was all about me, but it was really all about us. BFJ and I met in LoDo (we worked together) and it was nice revisiting that carefree time in our lives. And you know what, I did not knit a stitch the whole time the kids were gone! I enjoyed the weekend so much I practically forgot all about crafting. Can you believe that? I asked Zoom later what the best thing about the weekend was, and he told me he had read two chapters of his book. Hurray for books. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for taking the boys.

8 comments:

Best thing about the weekend for me, besides unhurried time with my wife, was the coffee. It was so smooth while walking around with the rain coming down and tearing at a baguette we bought at the local cheese shop. I just felt relaxed and carefree.

Wow! Sounds like you had a perfect weekend. The old house neighborhood sounds (and looks!) just beautiful. And sometimes I wonder why we are so driven to knit/sew when it's so fun just to not do it LOL!

Definitely hurray for books! It sounds like a wonderful weekend! We are at that crepe place a couple of years ago, and it was so good! I think I need to go back. That is a really cool neighborhood, too.